The New Jersey online gambling industry is scorching hot, reaching another all-time peak in July. Operators combined to earn just shy of $26 million in total revenue across poker and casino platforms.
The numbers continue an impressive bull run in 2018, rising past the previous record established in March.
- New monthly records for total online and casino-specific revenue.
- Total online gambling revenue exceeded $20 million for the 17th consecutive month.
- Online casino revenue alone exceeded $20 million for the seventh consecutive month.
- Total year-over-year revenue was up more than 25 percent from last July ($20.6 million).
- Cumulative online gambling revenue since launch is approaching $875 million, on pace to reach $1 billion this year.
Other July 2018 highlights
- Golden Nugget posted the first-ever $9 million month in July. The market leader’s revenue came to $9,328,814 — a new record for any month.
- No other operator has ever cleared $5 million in a single month, but Borgata came awfully close in July. It generated $4.93 million in revenue, good enough to retain the silver medal.
- Another new kid joined the block last month. Ocean Resort Casino launched its online/mobile platform on July 10 and generated $250,000 in revenue for the partial month.
- The new guys are starting from the bottom. Hard Rock AC launched its platform at the tail end of June, so July represents its first full month of operation. Its online revenue came to $330,000.
- Caesars continues to reap the benefits of multi-state poker. The WSOP/ 888 Pokernetwork moved into the market lead following expansion in May, and July online poker revenue of $728,000 was the most of any operator.
Top line numbers
Revenue / month-over-month change (normalized for extra day in June) / year-over-year change
- Overall: $25.9 million / +14.2% / +25.8%
- Casino: $24 million / +14.9% / +29.5%
- Poker: $1.85 million / +5.2% / -8.0%
Look at all those plus signs.
Online poker revenue was up marginally from last month, though the year-over-year trend is still downward. Caesars was the only operator that posted a YOY gain in poker revenue once again, while the vertical was down close to eight percent as a whole.
Online casino revenue, on the other hand, is on an unstoppable upswing. Revenue inched across the $24 million mark in July, a new monthly record and a YOY increase of nearly 15 percent. The market has quadrupled in size since the beginning of 2014.
The overall numbers are wildly impressive, generating a record-setting $25,897,517 in July revenue. Considering the trends, don’t be surprised if that mark only stands as the record for one month.
Winners and losers
In alphabetical order, by license holder:
- Borgata (Borgata, PartyPoker, Pala, MGM): Borgata had a sluggish June report, but activities have returned to normal in July. Network revenue is up nearly across the board, save the YOY decline of more than 27 percent for online poker. Monthly revenue was up close to 20 precent across all verticals.
- Caesars (888, Caesars, Harrah’s, WSOP): Caesars is once again the only online operator that showed YOY growth in the struggling poker vertical. Unlike casino games, the total market for NJ online poker is barely half of what it was in 2014. WSOP/888 currently control about 40 percent of it.
- Golden Nugget (Golden Nugget, Betfair, SugarHouse): Golden Nugget established another new high-water mark for the industry. After posting a streak of $8 million months starting in March, it broke through the $9 million milestone. When will the Nugget reach eight figures in revenue?
- Resorts AC (Resorts, Mohegan Sun, PokerStars NJ): The Resorts group is the bronze medalist in the marketplace. Its July revenue came to $3.9 million, with casino numbers up significantly in both monthly and yearly comparisons. YOY online poker revenue is down, of course, unsurprisingly.
- Tropicana (Tropicana, Virgin): Tropicana was the only operator that showed both MOM and YOY declines in revenue. That being said, $3.35 million in July revenue keeps it within reach of Caesars and Resorts.
